Why I wrote a book about diversity

Tomorrow I am launching my fourth book, my second for children.

It’s called ‘All The Rainbows Colours’ – A book about diversity inclusion and belonging for little minds.

I wrote this book for my children. They are still very young and as I watch them grow, I am astonished to see two things.

How little they notice or care about difference before the age of three and how much this changes after that age. My eldest son is about to turn four. He is in preschool and already I am seeing;

• Kids being called out by other kids for not having the right shoes / scooters / bikes
• Kids calling each other names
• Kids in clicks excluding others
• A division between boys and girls
• Kids commenting on differences such as wearing glasses, being shorter, skin colour or the ability to compete and keep up

I am really shocked to see these things happening. I had no idea I would have to tackle this so early on. These are not behaviours I want my children to experience or to exhibit.

I believe my job as a parent is to teach my sons kindness, compassion, and confidence.

• Kindness to know and stand up for what’s right
• Compassion to understand and to speak up if wrong is being done to others
• Confidence to not conform if conforming mean discriminating, hating, or hurting.

For me, this quote from Nelson Mandela sums it up perfectly.

“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”

The dialogue and demonstrations around diversity are multifaceted and incredibly important. Today I continue to learn about others and their experiences, as I unlearn my own biases. With that in mind what I hope to do with this book is play my part in stopping any hate. I wish to support my children, other parents, and teachers to have conversations about love, kindness, and compassion. I know these conversations will get more complex and layered as my boys get older but for now my wish is for them to know;

• They are human and so is everyone else.
• Human rights are not optional
• All human beings deserve to be treated with respect and dignity.

In our house we believe black lives matter, love is love, science is real, women are equal and kindness is everything.

‘All The Rainbows Colours’ is not a book about ethnicity, gender or race it’s about human beings treating other human beings properly.

For more information – https://emmaledden.com/product/all-the-rainbows-colours/